Marital conflict and children's sleep: Reciprocal relations and socioeconomic effects.

Abstract

We examined reciprocal relations between parental marital conflict and children's sleep disruptions over two years. The roles of ethnicity (African American and European American) and socioeconomic status were tested as moderators of the examined relations. A community sample of 176 school-age children (M age = 8.68 at T1) and their parents participated at T1 and T2 with a 2-year interval between waves. Mothers, fathers, and children reported on parental marital conflict, and children's sleep was measured via actigraphy and self-reports. Latent variable modeling indicated that T1 marital conflict predicted increases in children's sleep disruptions longitudinally; results were more pronounced for African American children and those from lower SES homes. Further, children's sleep disruptions at T1 predicted increases in marital conflict over time. Results demonstrate the importance of reciprocal relations between a prevalent familial stressor and a fundamental facet of children's health, especially when considering the sociocultural milieu.

Longitudinal Relations Between Parent–Child Conflict and Children’s Adjustment: The Role of Children’s Sleep

“…There is growing support for relations between inter-partner conflict and children’s sleep (e.g., Kelly & El-Sheikh, 2011, 2013a; Mannering et al, 2011; Rhoades et al, 2012). With an independent sample from the one used in the present study, cross-sectional evidence indicates that shorter sleep duration and poorer sleep continuity/quality served as intervening processes in relations between inter-partner conflict and children’s adjustment problems (El-Sheikh et al, 2007).…”

“…Prominent developmental theorists contend that children’s sense of safety is based largely on the family context (Bowlby, 1982; Cummings & Davies, 2010) and repeated exposure to such conflict may result in increased vigilance to detect threat, thereby disrupting sleep (El-Sheikh & Kelly, 2011). Attention has been given to the marital relationship with studies demonstrating that parental inter-partner conflict is a precursor of shorter sleep duration and poorer sleep continuity among children (Kelly & El-Sheikh, 2011, 2013a; Mannering et al, 2011; Rhoades et al, 2012). However, fewer studies have considered the extent that other familial stressors, including verbal and physical PCC have on children’s sleep.…”

Family Functioning and Children's Sleep

“…Across many samples, in our work, various family processes longitudinally predicted sleep in elementary school-aged children. Marital conflict and aggression predicted variability in sleep schedules and sleep problems (8). Children’s emotional insecurity associated with parents’ marital discord predicted increased sleep–wake problems (9).…”

Economic adversity and children’s sleep problems: Multiple indicators and moderation of effects.

“…Research testing this model suggests that the caregiver’s perceived economic pressure is the primary predictor of child outcomes because it is responsible for harmful changes in parental mental health and marital and parent–child processes that may mediate the effects of SES on children’s mental health. In turn, evidence has linked children’s sleep problems to these intermediary processes, such as parental depression (El-Sheikh, Kelly, Bagley, & Wetter, 2012), marital conflict (Kelly & El-Sheikh, 2011), and parenting (El-Sheikh, Hinnant, Kelly, & Erath, 2010). …”